Department for Transport

Railways: Manchester Airport

Lord Scriven: To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Manchester Recovery Task Forceformally consulted (1) Sheffield City Council, (2) the Mayor of South Yorkshire, and (3) Doncaster Council, on the withdrawal of the direct Sheffield to Manchester Airport train service; and if so, (1) on what dates, and (2) what responses were received.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The Manchester Taskforce received over 800 responses from stakeholders. These included the Mayor of South Yorkshire, Sheffield City Council and Sheffield City Region Transport and Environment Board, which includes representatives from Doncaster Council, and which were received between 5 and 18 March 2021. The full list of respondents can be found on page 27 under Annex A of the summary document produced after the consultation closed.

Railways: Fares

Baroness Randerson: To ask His Majesty's Government what is their anticipated timescale for the introduction of a reformed fare structure for rail throughout England; and when do they plan to introduce integrated ticketing for rail passengers.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The Government has made clear that we want to simplify the current mass of complicated fares and tickets, whilst protecting affordable turn up and go tickets and season tickets. We have already made progress on fares reforms, for example introducing flexible season tickets last year and introducing a trial of single leg pricing on LNER and are also working with stakeholders and local authorities on proposals for Pay-As-You-Go in urban areas.

High Speed 2 Line: Expenditure

Lord Berkeley: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byBaroness Vere of Norbiton on 5 December (HL3685), how much was approved by Parliament for spending on HS2 (1) Phase 1, (2) Phase 2A, and (3) Phase 2B West; and what was the date of each approval.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The Government’s spending plans are set out in the Central Government’s annual Supply Estimates, the latest of which were presented to Parliament on 23 June 2022 and can be accessed on www.gov.uk. The voted elements of these spending plans were originally set out in Spending Review 2021 and updated at subsequent fiscal events.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Energy Bills Rebate: Meters

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking (1) to identify, and (2) to support, the estimated two million households on non-digital pay-as-you-go energy meters; and what plans they have, if any, to assess the scale of energy self-disconnection this winter.

Lord Callanan: Traditional prepayment meter customers will automatically receive the same discount per unit of energy as other customers through the Energy Price Guarantee. Ofgem’s rules require energy suppliers to identify and support prepayment meter customers at risk of self-disconnection through the provision of emergency credit and additional support credit. Ofgem has recently undertaken a Market Compliance Review assessing how suppliers support customers in vulnerable situations, including those on prepayment meters. To drive improvements, Ofgem has started compliance engagement with suppliers and asked them to take action to address the weaknesses that have been identified.

Research: Finance

Lord Campbell of Pittenweem: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by the Minister for Science, Research and Innovation on 21 November (HCWS376), what proportion of the funding announced for the UK R&amp;D sector they expect will be allocated to universities in Scotland; and what steps they are taking to ensure that universities in Scotland receive their full share of R&amp;D funding.

Lord Callanan: The Government’s priority is to support the UK’s world class R&D sector. We have put in place this additional funding to shore up talent and invest in R&D infrastructure across the UK, while also aiming to secure the UK fusion sectors’ commercial leadership and capabilities. We are committed to levelling up and where funding delivered via UKRI is England only, there will be an additional funding allocation for the Devolved administrations. The approach to funding distribution is being developed and my Hon. Friend the Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation has written to DA colleagues on this matter. Further details will be announced in due course.

Climate Change

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the World Climate Declaration.

Lord Callanan: The Government is aware of the World Climate Declaration but relies on the assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the global authority on climate science, to inform Government policy.

Energy Bills Rebate: Northern Ireland

Lord Rogan: To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions (1) ministers, and (2) civil servants, have had with Members of Parliament representing seats in Northern Ireland in each of the last six months about the Energy Bills Support Scheme and its implementation in Northern Ireland.

Lord Callanan: The UK Government has been working at pace with a range of different stakeholders to deliver this support to households in Northern Ireland. BEIS Ministers have engaged in debates and drop-in sessions with MPs to share progress and answer questions.

Fuel Oil: Prices

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Callanan on 17 November (HL3214), why they have no plans for a price cap on alternative fuel.

Lord Callanan: The markets for alternative fuels – including heating oil, coal, LPG, and biomass – contain a large range of suppliers not subject to the same regulation as electricity and gas suppliers. This means there is no single regulated standard price to modify by the imposition of a price cap. The Government has doubled support to £200 for alternatively fuelled households, in recognition of the pressures caused by these rising fuel costs. The Government will continue to monitor the prices of alternative fuels and will consider further intervention if required to protect UK households from extraordinary fuel prices.

Aviation: Carbon Emissions

Baroness Scott of Needham Market: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Callanan on 1 December (HL3482), whether they can provide a breakdown of the £194 million grant by (1) hydrogen fuel cells, (2) other electric battery technologies, (3) hydrogen combustion, (4) synthetic liquid fuels, and (5) biofuels.

Lord Callanan: A breakdown of ATI Programme R&D grants awarded, by individual project, are set out in the table below. Co-funded R&D project supported through the ATI Programme typically involve a range of collaborators including industry partners, universities and research organisations (the ATI Programme has an average of 4 partners per project). Further project information and descriptions can be found on UKRI’s Gateway to Research (gtr.ukri.org) and the ATI website (ati.org.uk)  ACCEL (Rolls-Royce) – battery-electric powertrain£3.4mAEDD (Vertical Aerospace) – diagnostic charge device for aircraft batteries£1.2mAEMTA (Safran) – electro-mechanical systems for moving electrical motors and machines£3.1mAEPEC (Safran) – electrical power systems£10.8mAEROBAT (Rolls-Royce) – battery modules for all-electric propulsion systems£7.3mAeroMC (Safran) – electric and hybrid propulsion and power controls£14.9mE-HAV1 (Hybrid Air Vehicles) – electric propulsion system technologies£1.1mEMPAS (QinetiQ) – electric motors for jet engines£1.2mFeasibility Analysis and Modelling of MgB2 Superconducting Electrical Power Machines (Epoch Wires) – electric machines for future aircraft£0.25mFRESSON (Cranfield Aerospace Solutions) – electric (hydrogen fuel cell) propulsion system£9.6mH2GEAR (GKN Aerospace) – Liquid hydrogen (fuel cell) propulsion system£27.2mHEPBAS (Electroflight) – electric drivetrain and battery systems£0.4mHEPBAS (Electroflight) – electric propulsion battery systems£0.35mHIDASP (MicroLink Devices) – solar fuel cells for electric aircraft£3.0mHYFLY (Airbus) – airframe integration for hybrid electric demonstrator£14mHYFLYER (ZeroAvia) – hydrogen fuel cell propulsion system£2.7mHYFLYER 2 (ZeroAvia) – hydrogen fuel-cell propulsion system£12.3mIDP (Vertical Aerospace) – key technologies for battery-electric flying taxi£11.9mINCEPTION (Blue Bear) – all electric propulsion module using batteries and fuel cells£2.9mIPCCA (Collins) – architecture for motor drive electronics£2.4mIPPA (Airbus) – identify key technologies enabling more electrical aircraft£4.2mLACS (Blue Dolphin UK)£0.32mLAMPS (Collins Aerospace) – power electronics and motors£1.3mMEGAFLIGHT (Rolls-Royce) – propulsion system for hybrid electric demonstrator£17.2mSMPP (Safran) – electrical systems for more electric aircraft£12.2mSREEV (Advanced Innovative Engineering) – Hybrid power units for UAVs£0.53mUTOPEA (Evolito/YASA) – electric motors and power electronics£5.5mZEST-1 (Airbus) – initial steps towards large hydrogen-powered aircraft£19.5mZIP (Airbus) – key technologies for high altitude satellites£3.6m

Department for Education

Headteachers: Pensions

Lord Boateng: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of changes to the tax free limits to lifetime pension pots on the retention of head teachers in England and Wales.

Baroness Barran: The department considers a wide range of policy matters with the Teachers’ Pension Scheme Advisory Board to ensure that the pension continues to be a key benefit in attracting and retaining teachers and head teachers in England and Wales.The lifetime allowance for pensions is being maintained by HM Treasury at its current level of £1,073,100 until April 2026. This allows head teachers and other savers to continue to make significant amounts of pension savings tax-free, while ensuring incentives to save are targeted across society.The government keeps all aspects of the tax system under review, as part of the annual Budget process, and in the context of the wider public finances.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Iran

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask His Majesty's Government, furtherto the 35th special session of the UN Human Rights Council on the human rights situation in Iran on 24 November, what support they plan to give to the Council’s fact-finding investigation into human rights abuses in Iran.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: On 24 November, the UK voted in support of the Human Rights Council's resolution to establish a UN investigation into the Iranian Government appalling human rights violations. This is a vital step towards accountability. The UK has long raised human rights with the Iranian Government at all appropriate opportunities, both directly and in multilateral fora. We will continue to work with our international partners to hold Iran to account, including in calling for Iran to allow the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran access to the country so he can properly and impartially investigate the reported abuses.

Palestinians: Human Rights

Lord Pickles: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to reports of the detention and intimidation of Palestinian human rights activists in the Palestinian territories, what recent discussions the Foreign Secretary has had with the Palestinian Authority about the activities of the PA Preventative Security Organisation.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Human Rights is a crucial element underpinning the UK's foreign policy. We continue to urge the Palestinian Authority (PA) to respect human rights, to ensure complaints of mistreatment or arbitrary detention are properly investigated and to continue to improve the performance of the security sector. An essential aspect of our efforts to prepare the ground for a two state-solution is to support a stable PA that can deliver services to its people and act as an effective partner for peace with Israel. The UK will continue to monitor these areas closely and raise with the highest levels of the PA.

Bahrain: Nationality

Lord Scriven: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks byLord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 24 November (HL Deb cols 1544–50), in which he said that “there are clear areas where inequalities exist” in Bahrain including that “Bahraini women cannot pass on their nationality to their children”, what steps they are taking to address these issues.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: On 7 November 2022, during Bahrain's Universal Periodic Review, the UK's formal statement included a recommendation that Bahrain amends its nationality laws so that Bahraini women married to foreigners can transmit Bahraini citizenship to their children.

Bahrain: Charities

Lord Scriven: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 24 November (HL Deb cols 1544–50), in which he said that they engage “effectively with civil society” in Bahrain, whether they will list the names of civil society actors in Bahrain with which they have engaged during the last 24 months.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK Government continues work to maintain and develop relationships with civil society, including non-governmental organizations within Bahrain and internationally. This ensures that HMG draws on a wide range of sources regarding human rights issues in Bahrain. It would be inappropriate to publish a list of civil society actors with whom we engage.

Pakistan: Non-governmental Organisations

The Lord Bishop of Leeds: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the government of Pakistan’s rules regarding the registration and operation of international NGOs in that country and the impact that these rules have had on the work of NGOs that His Majesty’s Government supports.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: International Non-Government Organisations (INGOs) are important partners for the UK. They deliver relief to some of the poorest people in Pakistan. The UK government has raised the matter of forced closures of INGOs with the Government of Pakistan and continues to engage on this issue. We continue to urge a clear and transparent process to ensure INGOs can operate effectively in Pakistan.

Bahrain: Press Freedom

Lord Scriven: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks byLord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 24 November (HL Deb cols 1544–50) that “media freedom across the Gulf…is very limited”, and the Reporters Without Borders 2022 Press Freedom Index which ranked Bahrain 167 out of 180 countries for press freedom, what representations they have made to the government of Bahrain in support of greater media freedom in that country.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: On 7 November 2022, during Bahrain's Universal Periodic Review, the UK's formal statement included a recommendation that Bahrain moves quickly to pass the Journalism and E-Media Law, to ensure stronger protections for journalists and enhance wider media freedoms.

Pakistan: Charities and Non-governmental Organisations

The Lord Bishop of Guildford: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support civil society organisations and non-government organisations in Pakistan in making submissions under the 4th Universal Periodic Review of Pakistan.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a process that allows states to reflect critically on their own human rights record. As a founding member of the UN Human Rights Council, the UK has always advocated for the UN human rights fora and will continue to support the Council and the tools and mechanisms it uses, including the UPR process. The UK government will continue to support civil society and Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) - including in Pakistan- to fully engage with the UPR process wherever possible.

Pakistan: Centre for Social Justice Pakistan

The Lord Bishop of Guildford: To ask His Majesty's Government what support they provide to the Centre for Social Justice in Pakistan.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK is a long-term supporter of civil society in Pakistan, and we engage with the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) as part of our work on human rights. I conducted a roundtable discussion with human rights stakeholders - including Peter Jacobs, Executive Director of CSJ - on 15 October, discussing open societies and the work of Non-Government Organisations (NGOs). We continue to engage with the Government of Pakistan to ensure NGOs such as CSJ can operate effectively.

Abdulhadi al-Khawaja

Lord Scriven: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to reports that imprisoned human rights defender Abdulhadi AlKhawaja is facing a series of new criminal charges in Bahrain as a result of his protest activities from within prison, what representations they will make to the government of that country (1) to raise concerns over any such action, and (2) to call for AlKhawaja’s immediate and unconditional release.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK continues to follow developments on matters that relate to human rights within Bahrain, including Al Khawaja's case. Our close and long-standing ties with Bahrain allow UK Ministers and senior officials to raise sensitive human rights issues, including cases, regularly, privately and effectively. Most recently the Foreign Secretary met with his Bahraini counterpart during the IISS Manama Dialogue in November 2022, where human rights was raised amongst other issues.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Recycling: Labelling

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the new regulations regarding mandatory recyclability labelling are enforced effectively.

Lord Benyon: The regulations will set out the role of the enforcement authority and the offences and penalties that will apply to businesses that do not comply with the labelling requirements. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) has agreed in principle to become the enforcement body and is advising us on the development of the monitoring and enforcement regime.

Cabinet Office

Refugees: Afghanistan

Lord Rosser: To ask His Majesty's Government why individuals who enter under the Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme are not currently included in the quarterly Immigration Statistics publications; and what plans, if any, they have to include them.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.A response to the noble Lord’s Parliamentary Question of 5 December is attached. Professor Sir Ian Diamond | National StatisticianThe Lord RosserHouse of LordsLondonSW1A 0PW12 December 2022Dear Lord Rosser,As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking why individuals who enter under the Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme are not currently included in the quarterly Immigration Statistics publications; and what plans, if any, they have to include them (HL4035).In your question, you refer to “quarterly immigration statistics publications”. If referring to the Home Office data Immigration statistics, year ending September 2022[1] , this was published on 24 November 2022, and contains a webpage entitled ‘How many people do we grant protection to?’ [2] . This page provides details of the inclusion of people resettled from Afghanistan in those statistics (see section 1.1 Resettlement).The Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) Migration Statistics Quarterly Report (MSQR), has not been published since August 2020[3] and therefore will not contain information on the Afghan citizen resettlement scheme, which opened on 6 January 2022[4] . In our most recent Long-term international migration bulletin (published on 24 November 2022), Section 4, Migration Events[5] details that around 21,000 Afghans arrived in the UK and are included in the ONS’ total longterm international migration estimates.This figure is based on published Home Office operational data, which estimates around 21,000 arrivals are associated with Operation PITTING (the evacuation of people from Afghanistan in August 2021), and are included in our total immigration estimates. This figure will include some British nationals. Similar to those arriving on the Ukrainian Visa Schemes, in the absence of reliable evidence to suggest otherwise, this subpopulation are included under the assumption that they are arriving in the UK for 12 months or more. This means that these estimates will be an upper bound for these populations and may be revised down once we have more information on their actual length of stay. Please see the Measuring the data section[6] for more detail on our methods.Yours sincerely,Professor Sir Ian Diamond [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-september-2022[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-september-2022/how-many-people-do-we-grant-protection-to[3] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/bulletins/migrationstatisticsquarterlyreport/previousReleases[4] https://www.gov.uk/guidance/afghan-citizens-resettlement-scheme[5] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/bulletins/longterminternationalmigrationprovisional/yearendingjune2022#migration-events[6] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/bulletins/longterminternationalmigrationprovisional/yearendingjune2022#measuring-the-dataAfghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme (pdf, 119.7KB)

Foreign Investment in UK: China

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government whatassessment they have made of the current overall level of financial investment from China to the UK.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon. Member's Parliamentary Question: PQ HL4040 is attached.Financial Investment from China (pdf, 150.5KB)

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Opera

Lord Freyberg: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers byLord Parkinson of Whitley Bay on 1 December (HL3495 and HL3496), what is Art Council England's national opera strategy; and whether they will put onhold their plans to withdraw all national programme funding from English National Opera until one has been published.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: Arts Council England made its decisions regarding its 2023–26 Investment Programme in line with its published guidance and its ten year strategy, ‘Let’s Create’, which covers all art forms, and which can be found on its website at: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/lets-create.Assessments were carried out by Arts Council England staff, based on balancing criteria published in its funding guidance, and were made by its Area and National Councils, which include both local representatives and people who work in the sector.More opera organisations will be funded in the new Investment Programme portfolio than in the preceding one, and opera accounts for 40 per cent of funding for music in the new portfolio. His Majesty’s Government will continue to work with Arts Council England to understand the impacts of its investment in arts and culture, including on opera.

Women and Equalities

Cars: Hire Services

Lord Chadlington: To ask His Majesty's Government whatassessment they have made of reports of car hire companies not accepting customers aged 75 years or over; and what steps they will take to ensure that older drivers are not unfairly discriminated against.

Baroness Stedman-Scott: Such refusals would be potentially unlawful under the Equality Act 2010. This legislation provides that it is unlawful age discrimination for a service provider such as a car hire company to refuse, on age grounds, to lease a vehicle to an otherwise qualified person, unless the company can, when challenged, objectively justify its decision.Where a company cannot, in those circumstances, show that their leasing age policy is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim, the individual affected can bring a claim to the County Court, or Sheriff’s Court in Scotland. The court may determine whether the “objective justification test” has been satisfied, and may award costs and compensation if the claimant wins their case. A range of guidance is available to service providers on their obligations and to service users on their rights, most notably on the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s website: https://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com, and through the Equality and Advisory and Support Service (EASS). The EASS can be contacted via its website, http://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com, by telephone on 0808 800 0082 (or by text phone on 0808 800 0084).

Equal Pay

Baroness Goudie: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking (1) to close the gender the pay gap, and (2) to end unequal pay for, and discrimination against, women.

Baroness Stedman-Scott: This Government is committed to the empowerment of women in the workplace. Over the last decade our work has seen the gender pay gap fall considerably, with mandatory gender pay gap reporting regulations helping to motivate employers to improve equality in the workplace, and strong growth in the number of women in full-time work.To drive forward this progress we have recently announced a ground-breaking pay transparency pilot, a new STEM returners programme and a Taskforce on Women-Led High-Growth Enterprises. In combination, this work will ensure that all women are able to reach their full career potential, improving gender equality in the workplace, and helping to further narrow the gender pay gap.We also remain committed to the Equality Act 2010, which contains strong protections from discrimination on the basis of sex, and reaffirms fundamental equal pay protections.